[Shoot the Piano Player] demonstrates very strikingly the ascendancy of subject matter over the unraveling of plot. I certainly could not recount the story in a sentence, but it is very clear that François Truffaut has filmed timidity as it has never been done before. (p. 54)

Behind the façade of imposed events, everything in Piano Player happens as if the expression of personality had become more perceptible to the viewer; as if, within the framework of an externally imposed detective story plot, the individuality of the characters became therefore all the more apparent.

But no doubt it's a great betrayal of the film to wander in the meandering ways of a changing logic, when the first, the most durable, and the most persistent impression the film gives is one of charm…. Shoot the Piano Player has more charm than any film I've seen for years. But...